Tag: workplace

Every business owner wants their staff to be productive. Some will spend an incredible amount of time, and put in just as much effort to make it happen — and it’s often on motivation, in particular. Because when you know that motivation is low, and productivity levels are down too, it’s safe to say that your business isn’t at its best. And when you want to grow and progress, your staff have to give it their all.

So, it’s often essential that, as the boss, you’re able to figure out what will make them tick, inspire them, and keep them on track. If you’ve not found the answer yet, you’ve come to the right place, as one of these five ideas might just work for you.

Set the Standard

If there are issues with motivation in the workplace, you’re going to need to work on the standard you’ve set. Because either the high standards you started out with have slipped, or you didn’t really set them in the first place. Working on setting the right standard in terms of corporate culture is what you really need to do, notes on which Jozef Opdeweegh gave in that post. You should take this and ensure that you can create the right office dynamics to keep everyone motivated and working as they should be.

Encourage Communication

But you have to be careful, because you don’t want to end up creating the kind of working environment that suppresses your staff. Instead, you should be thinking of the ways you can encourage effective communication among everyone. From morning meetings to an open plan office space, there are various ways of achieving this. Making an effort to ensure all levels of staff and departments communicate well should aid working relationships, which in turn can improve employee motivation.

Provide Incentives

Sometimes, good old-fashioned incentives work a treat. Because sometimes, you’ll find that your staff feel demotivated based on a tough period or external circumstances that you can’t always control. But one thing you can control is an incentive. Whether it’s financial or otherwise, you may find that putting an incentive structure in place, or just running a sporadic, incentive for fun, can get the results you need.

Influence the Atmosphere

When the atmosphere in your office is awful, it can be really off-putting for your staff. And this is something that will always be demotivating for them. So you’re going to want to work at creating a positive work environment. For this, a positive attitude, smiles all round, a little celebration every once in a while, and vocal praise will go a long way.

Relax and Live a Little

Finally, you’re going to want to learn to relax and just let go sometimes. If you’re always wound up and uptight, your attitude will impact on the rest of the office. And a stuffy, strict work atmosphere is not only demotivating, but it’s also demoralizing too. So choose to live a little and lighten up the mood. It will make a world of difference the everyone’s motivation levels.

Productivity, commitment and innovation are all qualities which employers measure in employees, but happiness is something that often gets overlooked. But staff members who are happy at their place of work are much more likely to show the three qualities just mentioned. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at a few of the ways that you can create an environment where employees will want to come into work every day and give it their all.

Tidy Workspace, Tidy Mind

It is challenging to work in a place where there is a lot of clutter and little sense of organisation. One method that entrepreneurs have found effective is to divide the workspace up into five zones:

paper products

office supplies

furniture and space

electronics

and employee interaction

Make sure that everything is well-organised, and you have enough useful products from companies like Limitless Office Products. Take suggestions from employees of any ways that they can think of to ensure the place runs better.

Openness and Comfort

Open office environments are very much in vogue right now. This way, you can encourage interaction between employees. After all, everyone wants to feel comfortable when they come into work every day. To start off with, every employee needs a sturdy desk and a comfortable chair.

You should also get the other basics right including good lighting (both natural and artificial), high-quality ventilation, and a strong system that regulates the temperature.

Education, Education, Education

No one likes to feel that they are stuck in a dead-end job with no chance of progression. Therefore, it is so important that you put continual staff training high up on your list of priorities. After all, the more skills that your employees possess, the more they will be able to bring to your company.

And training doesn’t necessarily have to be hugely difficult and time-consuming. There are plenty of e-learning options out there which get your employees up-to-speed on the latest thinking in their field.

Perks of the Job

Giving employees some extra incentives to perform at their highest level can’t do any harm. The perks that you offer really depends on your company, but you could offer extra holiday days, trips outside the office or free lunch and snacks. Sometimes, it is the little things that really show your employees that you value the contribution they make to your business.

Give Everyone a Say

If your employees feel like they have a say in the way you run your business, they are much more likely to feel valued. So, try to arrange some open forums in which everyone is invited to speak and contribute their thoughts and ideas. If staff members feel like you are simply telling them what to do all the time, they are much less likely to feel that sense of job satisfaction.

These five ideas provide a good starting point in your quest to create a happier workplace which benefits you, your team and your clients.